Tuesday, March 27, 2012

M.Y.F Tampin

It's been some time (or maybe the first time - I'm not sure) I've blogged about my Youth Fellowship back in Tampin. Maybe because I've left that phase of life when I've been ministered to there, and have ministered to others there.

It's been close to 5 years in Singapore, and I've had CampNUS (or Campus Group) here. Campus which I learned, grew, and served in. Where I had my needs ministered to, where I had examples to look up to. And Y.F at home shrunk to just become a place I meet up with church friends every time I go home. It has become a place I visit, rather than one which I belong to.

But last weekend when I went back, there were just 5 people around, out of which only two are really regulars. And something pastor said really shook me up a bit. According to my teacher Hwan Lin, pastor had been preaching a series of sermons which ran along the theme of the church being a refuge. And when we were planning out the month's events for Y.F, and lamenting about the outflux of our church's youths from Tampin and from Y.F., I saw the need for me to become a part of this fellowship still wherever I went.

Yes it's true that I no longer really need to be ministered to by this fellowship. But in a way, my ministry is still needed! NOT only because of the people inside the fellowship (who are by the way, almost parched by discouragement), but MAINLY because there is still a youth population in Tampin.

How could I have forgotten (for years), the needs of this population unseen from inside the gates of the church? How could I have not remembered, that these youth too have spiritual needs like mine, and we need to prepare a place for them to meet those needs? How could I just look at our dwindling numbers and think the need is no longer there because the people are no longer around? And how could I belittle God's grace and mercy towards the youth in my hometown that I forget that they need a place to be ready for them when they come to Him?

And there are internal needs. The love for God's word among His youth in the church needs to grow. The love for people outside His kingdom needs to be instilled in their hearts. To serve not only responsibly, but with a Spirit of love. They need guidance and they need examples in us. These needs are neither to be forgotten nor belittled.

I pray that I would be able to support this fellowship again, in prayer and in works. And as God continues to reveal Himself and the works of His Spirit in my life, I pray that I will meet Him in ministering for this fellowship too. Please pray for us and with us.